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Dallas Cowboys at It Again, Find Themselves in the Headlines for All the Wrong Reasons

January 23rd, 2013 at 11:16 AM By Nick Sharp

Here we go again. As has become the norm around Valley Ranch, the Dallas Cowboys find themselves splattered across the back page headlines across America. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with the football they play but rather with the peripheral stories that have surrounded and dragged down this organization since Tom Landry hung up his fedora.

First up is the never-ending tale of Jerry and Jason and the high-profile power struggle for control of this team. As much as Jerry says that he backs Jason Garrett and believes in him and wants him here forever, we all know that's not the truth. In fact, one of the biggest predictors of someone being on the hotseat in Dallas is having Jerry come out in "full support" of him. It's basically a declaration of get-it-together-no-matter-what-or-you're-gone from Jerry, a strange and head shaking move that we've seen too many times in the past. If you believe in Jason Garrett, let him do his thing. As Ed Werder discussed, Jerry brought in Jason back in 2007 because of his ability to call plays; now you don't want him doing that? Ugh. If his team doesn't perform early in 2013, Jason might be the second coach that Jerry has fired mid-season during his tenure as owner (the first being Wade Phillips).

Next up is Jay Ratliff. Jay F*#$%(ing Ratliff. I must admit, I was a bit late to the party in hearing about this. After a long night out, I came back to watch some SportsCenter. The first box I notice in the upcoming stories on the show was one titled "Cowboys DL Arrested". I thought to myself, "self"–I always address myself this way–" please for the love of God let that be Josh Brent getting indicted or something. Just let it be Josh again, not someone else." My hopes were thrashed when i saw #90 pop up on the screen.

It's been an odd few months for Jay. When we ended the season, people were calling for him to be cut for lack of production. Then with the Monte Kiffin change we decided that perhaps he could be a useful piece in the shift to the 4-3. But this, this is inexcusable. I get it. People make mistakes. Josh Brent made a huge mistake and it cost a man his life and it cost Josh pretty much the same thing. If Jay can't learn from that, then he is not the type of player or person we thought he was. There is no excuse for repeating this mistake, and who knows how close he came to finding himself in the exact same situation Josh is in (he did after all crash his car).

Most times in sports a DUI is cause for concern, but not a cuttable offense. That rule needs to be tossed out the window for the Dallas Cowboys this year. Zero tolerance means zero tolerance. Get him on the first plane out of town, or risk losing the respect of the entire team and your fanbase. Sorry Jay. Maybe you should've hired someone with that $5 Million Jerry gave you last year.

Last up is the most bizarre of the group, the Bill-Callahan-sabotaged-the-Super-Bowl story. Umm…what? Our new play caller purposefully threw Super Bowl 37 so that his good buddy John Gruden could win it? Tim Brown was a damn good football player, and Jerry Rice is one of the best of all time, but it's just too odd to make any sense out of it. Other players, such as Simeon Rice, Rich Gannon, and Bill Romanowski have come out in support of ol' Bill, so that's enough for us. As weird as it is to drastically alter the game plan, he must've done it because he thought it would work. Nobody throws a Super Bowl. I don't care how much dislike you have for your franchise or your owner or any of that. Nobody throws a Super Bowl.

So, yea, that's what's going on in the world of the Dallas Cowboys. It's supposed to be a quiet time of the year, and it is for about 29 other franchises. Why can't that just be us?